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Date Posted:Friday, August 11, 04:29:57pm
Ed Greene, the veteran soundman who collected 22 Emmy Awards and had an affinity for mixing live broadcasts like the Academy Awards, the Grammys and special editions of ER and The West Wing, has died. He was 82.

Greene died Wednesday in Los Angeles, a spokeswoman for the Cinema Audio Society announced.

Greene's Emmy haul — his most recent trophy came for Project Runway in 2015 — are the second most for any individual, and his 61 career nominations rank third. In 2007, he received the CAS Career Achievement Award, the sound organization's highest accolade, and served on its board of directors from 2005 until his death.

The CAS said that Greene displayed a "baffling degree of calm" before his live shows went on the air to an audience of millions. In addition to the Oscars and Grammys, he worked for decades on other awards shows like The Kennedy Center Honors, the Tonys and the SAG Awards.

He also mixed Live From Lincoln Center specials, Macy's Thanksgiving Day parades, Tournament of Roses parades, the AFI Life Achievement Awards, the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics and years of American Idol.

Greene mixed sound on the notable live episodes of ER in 1997 and The West Wing in 2005 and worked on CBS' live adaptation of Fail Safe, starring George Clooney, in 2000.

His live production work garnered him a Cinema Audio Society Award and four other CAS noms.

Born and raised in New York City, Greene attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. He began his professional audio career in 1954 with a summer job at Allegro Studios in New York doing voice and piano demos for music publishers.

After a stint in the U.S. Army, Greene co-founded Edgewood Studios in Washington with commentator Charles Osgood and composer George Wilkins. His recordings included Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz's "Jazz Samba" and Ramsey Lewis' "The In Crowd."

In 1970, Greene came to California as chief engineer for MGM Records and worked with Sammy Davis Jr., The Osmonds, Lou Rawls and other prominent artists. He was brought into television mixing by Frank Sinatra during a production meeting for one of the singer's broadcasts.

A generous mentor, Greene in 2004 participated in the Oral History Project of the Audio Engineering Society and taught for many years at the Summer Recording Institute program at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.

Survivors include his wife of 30 years, Lynne; children Grant, Sam, Lynda and Larry; and brother David. A memorial service is being planned.